From Failure, Millennials of Singapore Create “Startup” Millions of US Dollars

These six
millennials from Singapore can be used as a winning strategy after they turned
their failures into millions of dollars in international business.

Henry Chan and five
other people founded ShopBack, an e-commerce platform that provides cashback
for purchases made from one of more than 1,500 of their partner marketplace.

In the past four
years, this startup has provided cashback of more than US $ 25 million to 6
million users throughout the Asia Pacific. However, it is not as easy as it
seems.

Because, their two
previous businesses failed and several changes to get to that point. Next, how
the founder of Shopback told his story to CNBC on Friday (11/2/2018).

1. Finding ideas

When ShopBack’s
founders decided to break away from their permanent jobs at Zalora, they were
sure they could shake an industry they considered inefficient. Having worked in
the US shortly after completing his bachelor’s degree, CEO of Shopbak Henry Chan
said that he was shocked by “the power of technology” and wanted to
find a way to use it to help brands and consumers in his home country.

However, finding
the right ideas is easier said than done. In early 2014, this young man
arranged how to create a site that would help buyers save money while
increasing marketing and reducing costs for retailers.

2. Continue to
study

Initially, the
founders created a flash sale site to hook buyers a day while gathering
business people on one platform, such as the American shopping holiday party,
Black Friday.

However, the team
soon realized that the idea would not support them throughout the year. So they
set about the next phase. In the second phase, the business, dubbed “Great
Online Sale”, turned into a three-month discount site.

Once again the
founders found that there was a flaw, that retailers struggled to receive big
discounts even though marketing did indeed increase, while consumers wanted to
see a discount agreement throughout the year.

So, finally they
set a model of around 3-6 percent of annual cashback on purchases from ShopBack
retailers.

3. Continue to
evolve

Even after ShopBack
sets a strong idea, the team still adjusts its model to respond to users. To
begin, they designed and launched a trial site which became known as
ShopMoolah.

They conduct trials
for 24 hours. This is the same as the way Jeff Bezos launched a basic site in
the early Amazon. That evolution continues to this day. Lai said he had taken
many experiments to revive business and educate consumers that they could save
money when shopping. Today, ShopBack processes sales worth 45 million US
dollars per month.

However, Chan said,
the company is still in the learning process and maybe other failures they will
experience during the trip will be part of a long journey ahead.